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BETT finds money in education Children transmit sound on light beams Physics Education features at ASE 2008

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Is Earth science a dirty subject?Peter Campbell

The Sumatra–Andaman earthquake of 26 December 2004 (Boxing Day 2004) and its tsunami will endure in our memories as one of the worst natural disasters of our time. For geophysicists, the scale of the devastation and the likelihood of another equally destructive earthquake set out a series of challenges of how we might use science not only to understand the earthquake and its aftermath but also to help in planning for future earthquakes in the region. In this article a brief account of these efforts is presented. Earthquake prediction is probably impossible, but earth scientists are now able to identify particularly dangerous places for future events by developing an understanding of the physics of stress interaction. Having identified such a dangerous area, a series of numerical Monte Carlo simulations is described which allow us to get an idea of what the most likely consequences of a future earthquake are by modelling the tsunami generated by lots of possible, individually unpredictable, future events. As this article was being written, another earthquake occurred in the region, which had many expected characteristics but was enigmatic in other ways. This has spawned a series of further theories which will contribute to our understanding of this extremely complex problem.

Plate tectonics governs the topography and motions of the surface of Earth, and the loss of heat from Earth's interior, but appears to be found uniquely on Earth in the Solar System. Why does plate tectonics occur only on Earth? This is one of the major questions in earth and planetary sciences research, and raises a wide range of related questions: has plate tectonics ever occurred on other planets in the past? How did plate tectonics start on Earth? Will it ever end? In the absence of plate tectonics, how do planets lose their heat? This article provides a brief introduction to the ways in which planets lose their heat and discusses our current understanding of plate tectonics and the challenges that lie ahead.

The impression given in some textbooks is that a landslide can be generated by increasing the weight of an unstable block or adding water to a potential slip plane. This demonstration, which might easily be adapted as a student investigation in physics at advanced level, was an attempt to rectify such oversimplifications and explain to students the mechanics of mass movements.

A carousel gives possibilities to explore physics in rotating systems and to gain first-hand experience of methods to measure rotation, without the need for an external reference. This paper discusses the Foucault pendulum, as well as the sideways deflection of horizontally and vertically moving objects in a rotating system. These experiments lay the foundation for an understanding of ways to demonstrate that the Earth spins around its axis.

A globe, in a school or university yard, which simulates the Earth's orientation in space, could be a very useful and helpful device for teaching physics, geometry, astronomy and the history of science. It would be very useful for science education to utilize the forthcoming International Year of the Planet Earth 2008 and the International Year of Astronomy 2009 by installing globes in many school and university courtyards.

The teaching of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle provides one of those rare moments when science appears to contradict everyday life experiences, sparking the curiosity of the interested student. Written at a level appropriate for an able high school student, this article provides ideas for introducing the uncertainty principle and showing how it can be used to elucidate many topics in modern physics.

We analysed the heating curve of water which is described in textbooks. An experiment combined with some simple heat transfer calculations is discussed. The theoretical behaviour can be altered by changing the conditions under which the experiment is modelled. By identifying and controlling the different parameters involved during the heating process, we calculated that radiation, convection and evaporation are the main processes in the heating curve.

Cross-curriculum comparisons help open up new perspectives on old issues. The flight from physics by students is one such issue. Here a comparison is made with music education and language education. Where these comparisons provide useful insights they can also warn against knee-jerk panaceas. It is suggested we need to understand how and why young people make their career decisions before we take further action.

Special events like science days, teacher's meetings and physics recruiting efforts require spectacular and, if possible, interactive experiments for the audience. Based on past experience with such events, we have gathered and present here a series of demonstration experiments in mechanics, optics, waves and electricity which are suitable, and supplement other efforts previously described in this journal.

We describe the design of a simple homemade apparatus for the measurement of the refractive indices of liquids and demonstration of refraction. A circular transparent plastic tank and a lazy Susan are held concentrically. A laser pointer is mounted on the lazy Susan with its laser beam pointing radially through the centre of the plastic tank. Experimental values obtained for the refractive indices of various liquids agree reasonably well with the literature values. A number of investigative studies suitable for high school students to undergraduates are suggested.

A simple method, which is based on the principle of moment of forces only, is described for the determination of the density of liquids without measuring the mass and volume. At first, an empty test tube and a solid substance, which are hung on each side of a metre rule, are balanced and the moment arm of the test tube is measured. Keeping the solid substance in the same position, the test tube is filled with a liquid of known density up to a mark and then balanced. The moment arm is measured. Then the test tube is filled with the unknown liquid (whose density is to be determined) up to that mark and after balancing the moment arm is measured. By measuring these three moment arms and using the density of the known liquid, the density of the unknown liquid is determined.

Introductory physics laboratories have been demonstrated in some instances to be difficult or uninteresting to students at the collegiate level. We have developed a laboratory that introduces the concept of the Lorentz force and allows students to build a non-traditional DC motor out of easily acquired materials. Basic electricity and magnetism concepts are joined together in a simple and enjoyable experiment that allows the students to demonstrate physics at first hand and without the use of complex materials.

INTERVIEW Interview: Earth science gets to the coreSome 20 years ago, Prof. G David Price was one of the first to establish the now major field of computational mineral physics. He combines experiment, theory and modelling to tackle major deep Earth science problems. He is vice-provost for research and professor of mineral physics at UCL. David Smith quizzed him on behalf of Physics Education.

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